


Tick-Tock, Fate's Clock

by Tinnduin



Series: Wizards Don't Wear Straw Hats [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, One Piece
Genre: French Sanji, Gen, Hogwarts AU, Japanese Zoro, Malagasy Usopp - Freeform, Plots Gone Wrong, Post-Deathly Hallows, What do you mean the castle is alive? - Freeform, pranks gone wrong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:02:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23086726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tinnduin/pseuds/Tinnduin
Summary: Hogwarts Castle is home to many odd characters and eccentric individuals, however none more so than five students with a propensity for finding trouble wherever it may be. In an odd twist of fate, their stories intertwine, setting them on a course none could have imagined.
Series: Wizards Don't Wear Straw Hats [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1659298
Comments: 3
Kudos: 59





	Tick-Tock, Fate's Clock

**Author's Note:**

> This is something I wrote a few years ago and while I am unsure if I will continue it, I liked it too much to keep it sitting and not share it since it can be read as a one shot. Hope you enjoy!

**Swordsmen Make Great Beaters**

“Isn’t he that weird loner kid?”

“You mean the one that only hangs out with those two Gryffindor losers?”

“Has anyone ever even heard him talk?”

“Is he even able to smile? Like, is it even physically possible...?”

“The heck kind of a twelve year old has _green hair_. He a metamorphmagus or something?”

“Nah, can’t be. Never seen it any other color. It’d change all the time if he was one.”

“Seriously what is with his forehead? It’s like, so huge. If _I_ was a metamorphmagus I _definitely_ would’ve done something about that.”

“He’s really awkward. And scary. Heard Gordon bumped into him. Yes, Bellamy Bloody Gordon. And that kid sent him and his goons to the hospital wing. With his _fists_ . As a _bloody first year_.”

“He seems pretty harmless to me. Doubt he’d be much trouble unless you got on his bad side.”

“Collin says he keeps bottles of firewhiskey under his bed.”

“Collin is a wanker and a liar. You really going to listen to him?”

“Well he was right about Brendan and Elicia now, wasn’t he?”

“That was _one_ correct rumor. Among hundreds of _wrong_ ones. Half the words that comes out of his mouth are total bullshit.”

“Roronoa, Zoro.”

The chatter quieted as the Hufflepuff Quidditch Team Captain called his name. Zoro quietly pushed himself off the wall and walked forward. He could feel the eyes of every person present in the stadium, team members, hopefuls, and bystanders alike. He ignored them, something he was quite accustomed to doing.

Stepping forward, Zoro met Felix Prewett’s eyes squarely. He was only here because the Hufflepuff Captain had insisted after he had witnessed him bat the whipping arms of the agitated Whomping Willow away from a gullible first year who had tried to touch the trunk on a dare like an _idiot_. Apparently, his showing of strength, precision, and reflexes had been impressive. Or so an animated Felix Prewett had communicated to their Head of House. Who was apparently also impressed and insisted that he try out for the team (they were in desperate need of a good beater to replace one of their graduated seniors). 

Zoro would have turned down the offer (though it was less of an offer and more of a demand, if he were to be quite honest) except that he didn’t really have any better reason for not wanting to join the team than that it would put him in the limelight, something he hadn’t really planned on being in while studying at this school, and that he wasn’t really particularly fond of team sports. Working on a team could be a hassle if your teammates couldn’t keep up with you or just plain didn’t get along with you and social interaction was tiring enough without the tension that can arise between members of a sports team or their rivals. 

But to be perfectly honest, he didn’t really have anything better to do with his free time than train and take naps. It wasn’t like he was at all involved in any school organizations. Or really had any friends to speak of, the pair of fourth year Gryffindors who seemed to like tagging around him while he trained notwithstanding. And really, practicing for and playing Quidditch were great ways to train his body and reflexes. Which, of course, would benefit his sword work.

In the end, it wasn’t too difficult to convince himself to try out. Even if his decision could be boiled down to a nonchalant shrug and a “Why the hell not?”

The annoying gossip didn’t really phase him, either. He was used to it. It wasn’t like people were all that different in his homeland and sensei’s dojo than they were here. Language and cultural differences aside, people were still people and kids were still kids. And kids were annoying gossipers who loved to put others down to feel better about themselves. Self-conscious bullies, the lot of them. And adults weren’t much better, save for a few exceptions. There was a reason Zoro greatly preferred the company of animals. At least _they_ didn’t call you names, even if they did regularly try to bite your fingers off for the hell of it. At least they were _honest_ about trying to hurt you.

Felix flashed Zoro a wide grin that curved into a smirk as he held the other’s gaze. At nearly six feet tall, broad shouldered, well muscled, and holding himself with an air of legitimate confidence, the Hufflepuff Captain was a by no means unintimidating man. However, having stared evil in the face for as long as he could remember, Felix hardly fazed him. A passive, if firm gaze is all Zoro offered in return. For some reason Felix seemed to find that amusing.

A delighted chuckle followed by a rough pat on the shoulder broke the slight tension that had filled the pitch and the remaining members of last year’s team seemed to take that as a good sign. “You may be a second year, kid, but you already stare competition down like a seasoned athlete. Grab yourself a broom and hit the pitch.”

With that, Felix returned to his list and continued to read off names. Well, if the Head Captain was anything to go by, being on this team would certainly be interesting, to say the least.

**_One._ **

* * *

**Meat Alone is Not a Balanced Diet**

“ _Luffy_ ,” Coby groaned as his arm was nearly pulled from its socket for the seventh time that night. He was keeping count. Why Luffy chose _him_ of all people to drag on his late night escapade to the kitchens was beyond him. He wasn’t even in the same _house_ . But apparently, by some miracle, Luffy hadn’t learned how to reach the kitchens yet and being the blabbering idiot that he _was_ , he managed to spill the beans after only a week of knowing their location. 

It wasn’t like it was a secret or anything. The Hufflepuff dorm was almost literally right next to the kitchens. All the Hufflepuffs found out at some point in their academic careers at Hogwarts. And it was usually sooner rather than later. They just...usually chose not to reveal that knowledge to the rest of the school.

And Coby had to be an idiot and spill the beans to the absolute _last_ person who should have access to this information. He wanted to say no to Luffy but...he owed him. That’s kind of what happens when someone saves your dignity and possibly even your life from a group of upperclassmen bullies who had been terrorizing you since your first year.

Sometimes being a Hufflepuff _sucked_. Other houses seemed to take a yellow and black patch as permission to beat the crap out of the student wearing it. Though they seemed to be more cautious around Hufflepuff underclassmen ever since Zoro had sent Gordon and his chronie’s arses to the hospital wing. But they had learned quickly that Coby wasn’t some secret badass like his Japanese roommate and proceeded to torment him whenever the green haired loner wasn’t around.

Until Luffy, that is. Now that the bullies knew that Coby was Luffy’s self-proclaimed friend, they wouldn’t go _near_ him. Coby wasn’t sure exactly what the first year Gryffindor had done to make the upperclassmen troublemakers so terrified of even the mention of his name but the whispered echoes of Ace D. Portgas, the Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, and Sabo Fawley, Slytherin Prefect and president of the Dueling Club, may have something to do with it.

Another jerk and Coby stumbled, nearly sent sprawling, however Luffy’s arm _stretched_ and that was _never_ going to stop being weird. _Ever._ It was bloody _unnatural_. Even by wizarding standards.

“Shi shi shi shi,” Luffy’s strange hissing laugh brought Coby’s mind back to the present. And with it came the nearly crippling anxiety that accompanied the knowledge that they were out after hours doing something _very_ much against the rules and if they were caught they were in _so_ much trouble. Coby may have gained a bit of a backbone in the past few days, but he had certainly not lost his sense of self-preservation. Something that most Gryffindors seemed to be totally born _without_.

“We really shouldn’t be doing this,” Coby murmured under his breath. He had given up trying to convince Luffy this was a Bad Idea from the moment he had seen the gears turning in his head. The second Coby had accidentally let slip that he knew the location of the kitchens, it had already been too late. He could only hang on and _pray_ that they didn’t run into any prefects, teachers, or, worst of all, Peeves. Coby shuddered.

“Where did you say the painting was again? The one with the hairy bear?”

“ _Pear_ ,” Coby corrected, eyebrow twitching. “Not hair, or mare, or chair, or _bear_ . The painting of the _pear_ . Like I keep _telling you_.”

“Shi shi shi, you’re so funny, Coby.” He could feel his eyebrow jerk in response. _“Hairy pear. Hairy pear. Where are you oh hairy pear~”_

Coby would gladly go his entire life without hearing Luffy’s horribly tone-deaf singing ever again.

“ _Hairy pear. Hairy..._ pear! I found it, Coby! I found the hairy pear!”

Coby was jerked to a halt and his attention was immediately drawn upwards. Sure enough, it was the painting of a fruit basket in which was situated a pear, just as his housemate had described. Luffy was observing it with a strangely serious expression, head tilted and finger rubbing his chin.

“It’s not very hairy, though.”

Coby might have a permanent eyebrow twitch by the time he graduates if he keeps hanging out with Luffy. “I never said it was hairy. _You_ were the one who kept confusing ‘hair’ with ‘pear’ and then for some reason decided to _combine_ the two except -”

“So, do we just hit it?”

Coby jerked in alarm. “Luffy, _don-!_ ”

But it was already too late. The Gryffindor had reeled back his rubbery arm and Coby watched on in abject horror as his fist rocketed forward and _punched_ the pear dead in the center. The painting _howled_ a horrible, screeching thing and they needed to get _out_ of here because there was absolutely _no_ way the entire _school_ hadn’t just been alerted to their presence.

Meanwhile, Luffy stood still, eyebrows furrowed in confusion as the pear continued to howl like a muggle burglar alarm.

“Why did it do that? I thought it was supposed to open.”

“You were supposed to _tickle_ it not _punch_ it, you psycho! What did you _think_ was gonna happen? I’d scream too if you came up and _punched me in the gut!_ We have to get out of here _now_ or there is _no_ way we’re avoiding detention.”

“But, Coby, I’m _hungry_ . I want _meat_ …” he whined like a bloody five-year-old. Bloody ridiculous.

“Well you should’ve thought of that before you _punched the painting like a complete and total moron,_ ” Coby hissed, absolutely devoid of sympathy. “Come _on._ I am not getting a detention just because you don’t know the meaning of the word _restraint._ ”

And he was already off, dashing down the corridor, dragging a protesting Luffy behind him. He could hear the quickly approaching sound of footfalls as he dove into a secret passage behind a portrait of a grazing horse. One of the few perks of being an upperclassmen punching bag was an impressive knowledge of the many escape routes throughout the castle.

As he pulled his sulking partner-in-crime down the narrow spiral staircase ahead of them, he vowed to _never_ accompany Luffy to the kitchens _ever again_. His stupid puppy-dog eyes be damned. It was so not worth the decades being forcefully sheared off his life.

**_Two._ **

* * *

**Blackmail is a Witch’s Forte**

“I-I swear it was him! I saw him do it! I swear! Please! Don’t tell Janice that I cheated on her!”

The wicked Slytherin scoffed as she tapped her wand against her index finger in a steady, nearly hypnotic rhythm. “I really should. Janice might be a shameless slag but even she doesn’t deserve a piece of shit like you.”

The coward trembled in fearful anticipation as she continued to stare him down in disdain. “However…” her wand ceased its tapping and she proceeded to roll it between her thumb and forefinger in a slow, deliberate motion, “since you have been so helpful, I will let you go just this once. _But_ ,” her firm pronunciation stopped the already grovelling fourth year in his nearly unintelligible admissions of gratitude, “Should I _ever_ catch you cheating on your girlfriend again, I will _ensure_ that not only Janice but the entirety of _Hogwarts_ will know you for what you are: a cheating, snivelling cunt that doesn’t even have the guts to stand up for his own best mate. Is that _clear_ , Slater.”

“Yes, ma’am, yes ma’am, _crystal_ clear. Thank you for your mercy! I promise to never -”

Flicking her wand in the direction of the exit, she dismissed his blubbered words as he visibly flinched. “Get out. I’m done with you.”

“Y-yes, ma’am!” The coward couldn’t have scrambled away faster.

When the door closed behind him (he hoped it hit him on the way out), the two of them were left alone. The Slytherin turned to face him (A second year! She was only a second year! A second year should not have so much power!) and a smirk lifted the corner of her mouth, a dangerous glint shining in her mesmerizing brown eyes.

“So, Mr. Frazier. Now that we have confirmation that you have, in fact, been lying to me, I wish to present you with a proposition.” The witch slowly began to draw patterns in the air with her wand. She didn’t even need spells or lackeys to keep him here. Her mere presence and the secrets she held were force enough. And even if they weren’t, her sound defeat of Gordon’s gang in both spellwork and physical combat were enough to keep him glued to the couch.

“You,” she pointed her wand in his direction and he tried desperately not to flinch, “tell me,” she proceeded to draw the wand towards her chest, “where exactly you put the pendant that you stole from me or this entire school will know every last detail about what you did with Christopher Garrett in the second floor bathrooms in the East Wing at the end of last semester.”

Frazier felt a shiver pass up his spine that had nothing to do with the cold of the dungeons.

“Well? Which will it be? Pendant or destroyed reputation and the likely inability to face your own family ever again? Your choice, really. I’ll be waiting right here until you make it.”

Did he really have a choice? Did any of them? The girl before him wasn’t just powerful in magic or physical ability. What made her truly powerful was her knowledge, and her ability to use that knowledge to get what she wanted. He would cave. He knew he would. They always did. It was just a matter of time, really. 

Because no one stood a chance against Nami Mikan, Queen of Slytherin House. And that was just the way she liked it.

**_Three._ **

* * *

**A Recipe for Love is Always Served With a Side of Rejection**

“Come here my lovely bird and allow me to nest in your wondrous bosom!”

So he probably deserved the slap but was the stinging hex really necessary? He was pretty sure the boils along his arms and torso most certainly _weren’t_. From the look that Gin was shooting him, the Ravenclaw was clearly wishing he were anywhere else.

“Do you really need to hit on every hot girl that passes you in the corridor? Or at least could you do it in a way that doesn’t make me have to fix your stupid mistakes?”

“But I can’t help myself,” Sanji declared. Nearly swooning with the strength of his own romanticism. Or was it perhaps because of the blood loss? No, it was certainly due to his overflowing, uncontainable love. “I am in love, Gin.”

Gin scoffed as he proceeded to flip through the book opened before him, attempting to identify the exact hex that the beautiful lady had used. Ah, but she had been so lovely. Her long, thin legs, her skin like speckled alabaster. Her hair as orange as the sun setting on a Cornish beach.

“You say that about every person with hips, lips, and a pair of tits. You’re a damn horny teenager. Arm up.”

Sanji subconsciously followed the order and lifted his arm for the other’s better inspection. But he was barely paying attention and his mind was lost, nay, found! He was lost but then he was found! When he had beheld her beauty it was as though he had woken from a deep slumber. He hadn’t yet realized the fog he had been living in until she had cleared it with her mere presence. Her very existence was a balm to his hurting soul as much as her rejection had torn him asunder. But he would not give up. Because he just knew that she was different. That she was the one for him.

“But this one, she was different, Gin. She was beauty and grace incarnate! She glitters brighter than gold and the stars in the sky! More fragrant than a field of roses dancing in the breeze- !”

“Yeah, yeah, you say the same corny shit about every chick that catches your eye.”

Sanji looked down, offended. “It’s not ‘shit.’ Do you think my very valid, personal declarations of love mean nothing?”

“I think they mean you need to get laid. Or at least stop reading so much _Witch’s Garden_. It’s making you hornier than a rabbit in heat.” Sanji hissed as Gin poked none-too-gently at one of the boils on his arm, the gooey purple puss seeping from the popped skin. It was absolutely disgusting. The brilliance behind the mind that cast the hex sent his heart fluttering all over again. Not only was she beautiful and strong, she was intelligent as well. Could she be any more perfect?

“Well I’ll give it to whichever girl hexed you. She must really hate you to’ve gone through the trouble of casting this. It’s a pretty obscure hex. And very difficult to treat. You’re going to have to go to the hospital wing with this one.”

“But-” Sanji’s protests died on his lips, turning to grumbles as he remembered his last hospital visit. The one that had led Sanji to seek out Gin every time he needed charm and hex-lifting afterwards. Gin was really good at it. And as a sixth year he had a lot more knowledge about charms and hexes than Sanji himself did.

Gin snorted as he started packing away his things. “That was hysterical. And you so deserved it.”

Sanji growled. “She refused to treat me for half an hour after I told her what happened telling me that it was as much as I deserved and I could sit through a whole thirty minutes of of my hair growing mouths and screaming in my ears while she treated everyone in line _behind_ me.”

“As I said, hysterical and you deserved it. Though in this case, the boils may have been a little far.”

Sanji’s eyes grew distant as his attention was once again turned to his love. “Ah, but my lovely princess, nay...my queen. To be so brilliant as to cast the hex she did. Her perfection knows no bounds.”

Gin was shaking his head in exasperation as he lead him through the castle towards the hospital wing. “Do you even know her name?”

Sanji stopped short as distress began to dawn. “Her name! I forgot to ask her her name! How rude of me! My love! My princess! My sweet! Where art thou _mon cheri~_ ”

“Come on.” Gin tugged on Sanji’s tie keeping him firmly on track and from running through Hogwarts with purple puss seeping out of his body. “Before you even _think_ of approaching _anyone_ again, you need to get those treated or they’ll start spreading.”

Sanji’s expression soured. He was most definitely not looking forward to explaining to the matron exactly how he had ended up with green and purple boils covering the upper half of his body. He was just thankful that his (dear, sweet, darling!) beautiful love had spared his more...private regions from her stunning wrath. He hadn’t even realized he had stopped in his tracks until he felt Gin tug at his tie again. 

“Bloody hopeless,” Gin murmured. Sanji chose to ignore his friend’s clear slip of the tongue.

**_Four._ **

* * *

**Yarn is Flammable and Prone to Blowing Up in Your Face**

It was a bad idea. It was a really, really Bad Idea. He had thought it would be fun. After all, Peeves was such a menace. No one liked him, not even the staff. Especially not the caretaker. They were the ones that had to deal with him the most, after all. He couldn’t get in trouble for sticking it to Peeves. He couldn’t be caught and put in detention or even worse, expelled. If he pranked Peeves, the only thing that would happen would be that Peeves would be annoyed and the rest of the school would have a good laugh. He thought he might even be able to gain some respect from his fellow students.

But that’s not what happened. Oh no, that is _very_ much not what happened. You see, apparently Peeves did not take to being lied to too well. Especially when he was spun an elaborate tale that enticed him to create more mischief in a very specific part of the castle. And then when he _went_ to wreak such havoc, to be mercilessly pranked instead. He was easily able to track the one who had pranked him (ie: Your’s Truly, Usopp The Great, Master Prankster and Storyteller) as it was quite clear that the tale he had been allowed to overhear that the Gryffindor had related in the open hallway had, in fact, been meant to set him up.

And running from a being that could _phase through walls_ and knew the castle _far_ better than a mere first year, even if that first year was a particularly tenacious one quite used to dodging in and out of secret passageways, was no easy task. That left him with his wits and his creativity and when it came to running away, Usopp had an over abundance of both.

The blaring sound of a muggle siren accompanied by lilting taunts directed at their victim followed Usopp through the castle, alerting each and every person of the poltergeist’s presence. And even if one were to miss the noise, the pulsing, neon pink clothing and hair were just as glaring.

_“Peevsie, Peevsie, lemon squeezie, no one wants to be thee, Peevsie~”_

Man, he knew that even Peeves had to have some insecurities, but he wasn’t really expecting them to be so...private. He was a poltergeist, after all, the embodiment of chaos. He wreaked havoc and tormented both humans and ghosts for fun with absolutely no remorse. When Usopp had created the spell, he really hadn’t expected it to reveal something like this. He just thought the poltergeist would be mildly embarrassed at the worst. Peeve’s anger was as terrifying as it was legitimate. If the poltergeist weren’t such a horrible being who had subjected students to even greater humiliation, he might have actually felt bad. As it was, he was far too busy running for his life to feel compassion for _Peeves_ of all beings.

_“Fake ghost, failure’s host, you’re the one they hate the most~”_

Usopp’s heart was racing so quickly he feared it would burst, lungs burning and heaving with the effort to pull in and expel air. His legs were starting to feel like jello, and he dove around a corner to avoid another hail of knives.

Yes, knives! Peeves had broken into the kitchens and stolen a bunch of knives of all shapes and sizes along with weapons from who knows where in the castle. Usopp was not exaggerating about the poltergeist’s anger, he really was running for his life!

 _I’m running out of pellets. Shrubbery doesn’t seem to bother him and while the smoke blinds work to hide things that actually pack a punch, I’m almost out of those. And they're not even slowing him down. Just making him angrier. And nothing else works because they’re designed for people, not poltergeists! This is bad. This is really, really bad. I have to stay calm or else I’ll_ die.

Usopp dodged behind a statue and slid down the long, stone chute sequestered behind it.

_I can’t keep running. I’m almost at my limit. I’m used to running away from people but this is ridiculous! He’s been chasing me for over an hour and not even the professors can slow him down. I need to get out of the castle. It’s my only chance! But how do I do it so that he doesn’t catch on and follows me anyway?!_

As soon as the chute ended, Usopp was back on his feet running. He was now in the lower parts of the castle. He wasn’t sure which level exactly. The chute he slid down changes the location it spits people out every time someone goes down it. That alone should hopefully have Peeves distracted for a few minutes at the most. It would hopefully be enough time for him to form a plan and get out.

He just hoped he wasn’t too late.

**_Five._ **

* * *

**_Five times the gong has sounded. Five times the time-bird chirps._ **

Zoro scratched his head as he looked around. He didn’t remember going down this corridor on his way to the pitch. Or that one. Or-

Zoro shook his head and rounded the corner...just to come face-to-face with another wall. The boy turned around again. The passageway he had just been in had disappeared. Zoro brought his hand up to his mouth as it stretched in an involuntary yawn. He was exhausted. The first practice of the season had been harder than he anticipated and he was ready to fall asleep. He probably shouldn’t have trained as much as he had that morning, but he hadn’t expected Felix to be such a slave driver. It had been a good workout, however, and he waited in excited anticipation for the next practice.

Leaning his back against the wall, he slid down and laid his _bokken_ against his shoulder. It wouldn’t hurt to take a little nap. He could try to get himself out of this annoying maze with its moving rooms and corridors after he had caught up on some sleep.

He drifted off to the sound of silence.

**_Tick-Tock, Fate’s Clock, Fate waits not for human stock._ **

Luffy paused and scratched his head. Where did Coby say the kitchens were again? Was it the second floor? No, it was definitely the fourth floor. Past the suit of green armor, in the corridor by the painting of the hairy mare.

 _Hairy mare._ Luffy chuckled. “Who would wanna paint a hairy mare? Aren’t all mares hairy anyway?”

Course set, Luffy set off down the stairwell with confidence. He was gonna find the kitchen, with or without Coby’s help, and _this_ time, he was gonna get meat for sure. His eyes glazed over and his mouth began to water as visions of steak and roasted chicken and corn beef danced across his imagination. 

He didn’t even feel the staircase move.

**_Five gongs, five strong, the children dance to the time-bird’s song._ **

Nami tapped her foot in impatience. She had warned that annoying Frazier to be here on time or she might reconsider her bargain. She hated being late. She hated it even more when others were late because that meant they were wasting her time. And her time was precious.

She needed that pendant or else she was going to be in a whole lot of trouble. She still couldn’t believe she had been careless enough for the sixth year Ravenclaw to be able to get his hands on it. She had to be more careful. One wrong move could lead to the end of everything she had worked for, everything she had built up over the past three years. She couldn’t afford to mess up again.

She reached into her pocket, pulling out her old and battered with a crack in the glass face but still perfectly serviceable pocket watch and flipped open the lid. 

_4:59 PM_

She had told him to be there at five o’clock on the dot. Nami grit her teeth in annoyance. He better not be late or else he would find out very quickly that the Queen of Slytherin did not play around.

When the section of the floor she was standing on shifted and fell out from underneath her, she was taken completely by surprise.

**_Tick-Tock_ **

Sanji was over the moon. Well, not literally. His feet were very much still firmly planted upon this Earth. However, the way his heart soared, he might as well be on his way there right now.

He had spotted her. His darling, his love, his gorgeous _reine_ . He had caught a swash of orange locks disappearing around the corner and he knew, just _knew_ , they were hers. His legs were moving before his mind could even catch up, but by the time he had rounded the corner, she was already gone.

Sanji had been disappointed, nearly crushed, but he hadn’t let her disappearance dissuade him. He would find her. He knew he would. They were meant to be, tied together by the unbreakable string of fate. His love would lead him to her. And when he found her...when he found her…

Well, he would woo her of course! Learn the beautiful name of that beautiful girl and he would court her and then propose and she would say yes and they would live happily ever after.

Sanji froze. There she was! Leaning daintily against the wall, face scrunched cutely in concentration, foot tapping against the tile floor. Was she waiting for him? Had she known he was coming? Had she lead him here just to pronounce her love for him.

Sanji stepped forth, lungs filling with air, arm raised, his declaration of love just begging to burst forth from his mouth…

...just to freeze as his love lost her balance with a look of shock and her orange hair disappeared into the ground with a scream.

**_Tick_ **

Luffy continued to walk down the corridor, humming to himself. He rounded another corner and stopped, tilting his head in confusion. He was sure he had already passed that same suit of armor ten minutes ago. But it couldn’t be the same one. He was in a totally different part of the castle. He rounded the corner just to be hit backwards with all the force of a charging bull and he felt himself falling...falling...

**_Tock_ **

Usopp cursed and ran and ran and _ran_ . He had no idea where he was at all. This was a part of the castle he hadn’t even known _existed_. The only good thing about it was that it seemed Peeves had yet to find him. Which meant he still had time. His mind was whirring, thoughts racing as he tried to formulate a plan of escape. He turned his gaze forward and his eyes had barely a moment to widen in surprise as he ran straight into the person standing in his path. Usopp felt his feet leave the ground and he was falling. When he managed to catch his breath, he screamed.

**_Tick…_ **

“No!” Sanji yelled, rushing forward. “My love, I’ll save you!” He was diving down the hole his sweet had fallen into before the thought had even entered his mind and he was plunged into darkness.

**_...Tock_ **

Nami screamed as she fell. She didn’t know what had happened or how it had happened. All she knew was that she was falling into complete and total darkness. After what felt like an eternity but must have only been a few seconds, she was nearly blinded by a piercing light as she felt her body sink into something soft and fluffy. Seconds later, she felt the heavy weight of a body slam into her own and she lost her breath for a moment, vision swimming.

**_Tick._ **

“Who are you?! You wanna fight?!” That voice was strangely familiar. It took a moment but recognition finally made its way past his blinding panic.

“W-who is tha- L-luffy?! Luffy is that you?!” His voice was most definitely not three octaves higher than was natural. Because he wasn't scared. Nope. Not at _all._

“Yeah, I’m Luffy!” pronounced the other, no trace of fear in his voice.

“Luffy!” Usopp felt relief fill him even as his heart was still filled with utter terror. “Luffy, it’s me, Usopp!” 

“Usopp? Really? Cool! Are you looking for the kitchens too?” the other interjected casually as though they weren't falling to their deaths.

“What...? No. Luffy! I need you to concentrate. Do you see anything? Like a light or anything to tell us how far the bottom is?”

 _If there is a bottom_. But he didn’t voice that fear.

“Hmm...well it’s really dark…” _No duh_ “...bu~t I do think I see something. Yeah! There’s a light. Wow, it’s getting brighter really fast!”

Well, that was good enough for now. He was going to have to chance it. “Alright Luffy, just here let me move off of you a bit.” He hadn’t realized how hard he was clutching the other’s robes until he started to extricate his hands no matter how much his instincts were screaming at him to not let go.

“Alright, well hopefully this’ll help brace our landing.” He felt around in his pellet pack with shaking hands until he found the right compartment. Taking out a pellet, he threw it downwards towards the growing light he could finally see now that his head was no longer embarrassingly buried in his classmate’s chest.

Luffy was laughing like a maniac and Usopp just prayed that his plan would work. To have escaped dismemberment at the hands of Peeves just to fall to his death due to his own reckless stupidity would be the most unfair twist of irony.

Luffy was still laughing as light flooded their vision and he could feel the tendrils of the elastigrass wrapping around his body and slowing his fall.

**_Fate is sealed as the clock strikes Five._ **

Zoro drifted awake and stretched, letting out a large yawn. That nap had been a great idea. He was already feeling quite rested and ready to tackle the maze again. As he blinked his eyes and rubbed them of sleep, he noticed the soft orange light from a crackling fireplace filling a circular room he was pretty sure he hadn’t fallen asleep in. To his left he saw a giant white cushion on which were tangled a pair of Gryffindor and Slytherin robes and shocks of orange and yellow hair. To his right, he saw a black haired kid in Gryffindor robes wrapped in vines and swinging from a weird looking tree and laughing with another kid who was muttering to himself and trying to get himself out of the same situation.

Zoro glanced back and forth between the two scenes as one of the students on the cushion screamed and punched the other one off of it while pushing herself out of the mess of white while the black haired kid kept laughing and the blonde kid (the blonde was definitely a guy) laid groaning on the floor with hearts in his eyes.

“That was fun! I wanna do it again!”

Zoro cocked his head to the side in confusion. “Did I miss something...?”

The sound of chirping filled the room as the clock on the fireplace mantle struck five.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
